Hightower had supported Jackson’s 1988 campaign for president. The ad was run heavily in the rural, white parts of the state.

Those of us who were veterans of Southern politics of that era immediately understood what Perry was saying with the “share your values” line. This was racism pure and simple, circa 20 years ago in the South.

I was first elected to Congress in 1978 and served throughout the 1980s and ’90s. No one had to explain the significance of that ad to me.